Matriz de contabilidad social para Costa Rica (MCS97). Resultados finales y desarrollo metodológico de su construcción

1997 SOCIAL ACCOUNTING

MATRIX FOR COSTA RICA

(SAM 97)

Final Results and Methodology

Used to Construct the Matrix

Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Technical Cooperation Secretariat

This document was produced by the Directorate of Strategic Planning and Institutional

Modernization and the Area of Trade and Agribusiness of the Inter-American Institute for

Cooperation on Agriculture. The team was composed of Rafael A. Trejos, Joaquín

Arias, Oswaldo Segura and Eliécer Vargas; technical support was provided by Julio Alfaro.

January 2004

This publication can be obtained from:

Technical Cooperation Secretariat

Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

P.O. Box 55-2200, Coronado, Costa Rica

E-mail: rtrejos@infoagro.net or oswaldo.segura@iica.ac.cr

Fax: (506) 216-0223

Web site: http://www.iica.int

Rica, IICA. Directorate of Strategic Planning and Institutional

Modernization; Area of Trade and Agribusiness. 2004.

72 p. ; 25 cm.

ISBN 92-9039-596 6

1. National Accounts. 2. Accounting. 3. Costa Rica. I. IICA.

II. Title

AGRIS

DEWEY

Social accounting matrixes (SAMs) are a useful tool for analyzing

national and international policies, measuring external shocks to

the economy and studying the dynamics of the market and the

institutional framework. They are useful not only because they

provide a consistent framework for socioeconomic accounting, but

also as they are the primary source of data for a wide variety of

economic models, such as SAM multipliers, computable general

equilibrium models, and multi-market models. SAMs are more

useful than the System of National Accounts, and provide specialists

with a dynamic, reliable tool for analyzing economies and the

impact of policies.

IICA constructed a Social Accounting Matrix for Costa Rica for 1997

(SAM_1997), with a disaggregation of the Agriculture and agrifood

sector that made it possible to conduct a more comprehensive

analysis of the economy as a whole, the agrifood sector in particular,

and the interrelationships between them. Policymakers also have

better information for evaluating policies and external factors that

impact economic performance.

This document describes how the matrix was constructed and

prepared under the IICA-Fontagro project, with IICA's objective being

to make this methodological experience available to the member

countries. In formulating the matrix, IICA's specialists tapped the

enormous amount of economic information available for 1997,

compiled that year as the basis for establishing Costa Rica's current

national accounts series. The authors also benefited from the

development of Costa Rica's national accounts in recent years,

achieved thanks to the outstanding work of the professionals of the

country's Central Bank, whose invaluable assistance we wish to

acknowledge.

D

IRECTORATE OF THE

A

REA OF

D

IRECTORATE OF

S

TRATEGIC

P

LANNING

Foreword . . . i

List of tables. . . vii

List of figures . . . viii

I. INTRODUCTION . . . 1

II. GENERAL DEFINITIONS AND BACKGROUND

INFORMATION . . . 5

2.1. STRUCTURE OF A STANDARD SAM . . . 6

2.2. SOME PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF A SAM . 7

2.3. BACKGROUND AND FUTURE . . . 8

III. CONSTRUCTION OF THE SAM 97 . . . 11

3.1. BASE YEAR, SOURCES AND THE MACRO SAM . . 11

3.1.1. Choice of the Base Year . . . 11

3.1.2. Primary Data Source . . . 12

3.1.3. The MACRO SAM of Costa Rica. . . 13

3.1.4. Description of Modules . . . 15

3.2 PROCEDURE FOR CROSS-TABULATING

ACCOUNTS IN THE SAM 97 . . . 19

3.2.1 The Agents in the SAM 97 of Costa Rica . . . 19

3.2.2 Equivalence between the Input-Output Table

and the Supply and Use Table . . . 21

3.2.3 Production Account . . . 21

3.2.4 Final Utilization of Income Account. . . 22

3.2.5 Intermediate Consumption Account . . . 23

3.2.6 Value Added Account . . . 23

3.3. DISAGGREGATION IN THE SAM 97 . . . 32

3.3.1 Estimate of Rice Production . . . 32

3.3.2 Disagg+regation by Subtraction. . . 33

3.3.3 Disaggregation of value added and

intermediate consumption . . . 35

IV. INTERPRETATION OF THE 97 SAM OF COSTA RICA . 39

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . 43

Used in the work . . . 43

Other bibliographical references on SAM and CGE . . . 45

ANNEXES . . . 51

Annex A. Methodology for Updating the Input-Output

Matrix . . . 51

Annex B. Classification of Input-Output products

and their equivalents in the Supply and Use Table (SUT). . 59

Annex C 1. Rice production by semester

(in current colones) . . . 65

Annex C 2. Rice: Production Account for 1997 . . . 67

Annex C 3. Rice: Production Account for 1997 . . . 69

Annex D. Social Accounting Matrix for Costa Rica, 1997

Millions of colones (Disaggregation of rice production) . . . . 71

TABLE 1. Costa Rica: Macro SAM for the Costa Rican Economy

(Millions of colones)Base Year 1997 . . . 14

TABLE 2. Equivalence between the products of the

Input-Output Table and the products of the

Supply and Use Table (SUT . . . 22

TABLE 3. Control totals for updating the input-output

matrix(aggregation of sectors of the Supply and Use Table). . . 24

TABLE 4. Structure for Distributing Total Incomeby Sector

of the SAM 97. By Employment Category . . . 26

TABLE 5. Percentage structure by sector for exports.

From Costa Rica's duty-free zone (through December 1997) . . 30

TABLE 6. Percentage Structure by Sector and

Type of Good for Costa Rica's Total Imports1997 . . . 31

TABLE 7. Rice: Acreage, Production, and Yields Obtained

by Harvest . . . 33

TABLE 8. Rice: Production Account, 1997

(millions of colones) . . . 34

TABLE 9. Rice: Supply and Use Balance, 1997

(millions of colones) . . . 34

TABLE 10. Structure Used to Distribute the Value Added

of Rice By Occupational Status (Excludes unpaid people or

income unknown). July 1997 . . . 37

FIGURE 1. Structure for Total Income by Sector

of the SAM 97. Household Survey vs. National Accounts

In this document we explain how we constructed the social

accounting matrix for Costa Rica for 1997 (SAM 97). We show,

clearly and concisely, the process of constructing a SAM based on

information contained in the System of National Accounts. This

document thus provides a methodological guide for anyone wishing

to attempt the construction of a SAM.

The document contains details of the data required, the sources,

and the procedure used to construct the Social Accounting Matrix

(SAM). A MACRO SAM is obtained and interpreted, and the

different agents in the structure of the SAM are analyzed, along

with the method and way of cross-tabulating economic accounts.

Taking rice as an example, the authors explain how an economic

sector of special interest can be disaggregated, to show the

flexibility of this analytical instrument. Finally, they show how

a SAM can be used to describe a country's chief socioeconomic

characteristics.

Why would someone want to construct a SAM in the first place?

Because SAMs are a tool of vital importance in the field of economic

research, offering flexibility and a consistent analytical framework.

The purpose of this document is not to provide a conceptual

introduction to SAMs, as this would simply be to repeat what is to

be found, both in detailed and summarized form, in many of the

studies listed in the bibliography. Indeed, in case the reader needs

more background information, and to help disseminate this topic,

the bibliography has been extended to include references to certain

texts about which nothing else is known. It is important to explain

the importance of the instrument, however.

The literature suggests at least four main uses for SAMs:

1

1. As a tool for national, regional, and even local, socioeconomic

analysis, since it provides information not only about the flow

of the value of production but also the distribution of the income

generated. In addition, if it is complemented with some satellite

environmental and social accounts, a SAM can provide a

comprehensive analytical framework of sustainable development.

2. As a source of descriptive information about a country's economy,

including details of production, income distribution, investment,

financial flows, indebtedness, and trade.

3. As a database and as the main source of information for the

formulation of other, more complex analytical tools, such as

multiplier models and computable general equilibrium models.

These other tools make it possible to simulate and study the

possible impacts of changes in exogenous economic variables

-for example, changes in tariffs, the terms of trade and

international prices.

4. As an instrument for integrating the universe of scattered

economic statistics that cover a broader panorama than the one

shown in the System of National Accounts.

Given the importance of the instrument, IICA prepared the SAM

97 for Costa Rica as one of the most important components of an

ambitious program undertaken by the Directorate of the Area of

Trade and Agribusiness, and the Directorate of Strategic Planning

and Institutional Modernization, aimed at providing the Institute

with quantitative tools for policy analysis. The advantage of these

tools is that they offer an analytical framework that integrates

economic, social, and environmental factors. Hence the aim is to

offer models based on the Social Accounting Matrix, such as SAM

Multipliers, Computable General Equilibrium Models (CGEs), and

Sectoral Models. The SAM 97 for Costa Rica is a guide project, to

which physical accounts of natural resources will be linked to

conclude with policy analyses using CGE models.

1. Presented by Venegas M., José (1995). Matriz de Cuentas Sociales 1986: Una SAM para

Chile, Serie de Estudios Económicos, 39. Central Bank of Chile.

The next chapter of this document presents some important

background documentation and definitions regarding social

accounting matrixes, since only a minority of professional

economists are familiar with studies of this kind. The third chapter

begins with an explanation of the procedures followed in preparing

the SAM 97 and then presents the methodology for disaggregating

the matrix, taking the rice sector/production as an example to

analyze and explain the disaggregation of the staple grains sector

in the SAM 97.

The document ends with a brief description of the chief

characteristics of Costa Rica's economy, using information culled

from the SAM 97, with emphasis on the agricultural sector.

INFORMATION

A SAM can be defined as a double-entry table that records the

interrelationships that exist among a very wide variety of economic

transactions, in a given economic space (usually a country) and

period (usually a year) (Venegas, 1995). Clearly, the SAM is closely

related to the system of national accounts. It can be argued that

a SAM presents the accounts of the System of National Accounts

(SNA) in the form of a matrix that establishes the interrelationships

among the structural aspects of an economy and income distribution

and expenditure among groups of households.

Put more simply, a SAM presents, in an ordered way, the economic

flows of an economy. Its theoretical basis is the circular flow of

money. Thus, we can imagine a flow in which households purchase

goods and services from firms that, in turn, take the money and

transfer it to their input suppliers (intermediate manufacturing

materials) and the suppliers of factors of production (employees and

investors). The factor of production remuneration becomes the

income that households will use to purchase goods and services,

completing the circular flow of money. So there are actually other

actors that must be taken into account besides the firms and

households - the government, foreign households and firms, for

example. Other flows include payments and receipts of taxes,

tariffs, and remittances. Regardless of how many actors are involved

in the economic system, the fact is that every colóna

2

_{paid out by}

someone is a colón that someone else receives. The SAM is therefore

2. Colón is the currency used in Costa Rica.

a system of accounting in which every colón is recorded, identifying

clearly who pays it out and who receives it. The agent that pays

(purchases) is recorded in the matrix columns, and the one that

receives (sells) is shown in the rows. Hence, the definition of the

SAM as a double-entry table.

2.1. STRUCTURE OF A STANDARD SAM

The structure of a social accounting matrixes can be flexible,

depending on the objectives sought. As a result, their composition

and functionality will be flexible. A standard matrix contains a

central input-output matrix that considers intersectoral

transactions, as well as the transactions related to the supply and

use of goods and services. Alternatively, the use matrix and supply

and use matrix may be found separately.

A SAM considers primarily transfers related to the origin and

distribution of income. That is why the agents and institutions in

the economy are defined. Thus, it is common to find the government,

households, employees, firms, owners, and a huge number of

agents. None of these agents receive more attention than

households, which are divided into various special categories:

urban or rural, high, middle and low class, etc. Often, the main

purpose in constructing a SAM is to study this area, which is

relatively less developed in research and economic measurements.

Typically, it reflects the role of people in the economy through,

among other things, additional definitions of the households sector

and a disaggregated representation of job markets (that is, by

distinguishing between several categories of employed people).

A SAM also accommodates financial transactions that link the

agents or institutional sectors in terms of the origin and use to which

accumulation flows are put, and their financing; in other words, it

records the sources and uses of capital funds. This is done through

capital and accumulation accounts. When accumulation accounts

are present, the SAM can also consider the asset position of the

institutional sectors, i.e., the balance of assets and liabilities at the

beginning and end of the period defined for the SAM. If these

informational elements are incorporated, all the economic

transactions are included. Since there is information about stocks

at the end and beginning of financial years and all flows of

production, income, expenditures, accumulation and financing,

the difference in the reconciliation entries reflects the capital

losses and gains not attributable to the transactions during the

period. Due to the lack of basic information, both the financial

transactions and the balances of assets and liabilities were not

considered in this work.

Finally, the transactions between the rest of the world and the

country, as well as the accounts of the central government, are

incorporated into a standard SAM. "Rest of the World" is a general

term used in empirical works that refers to the entire foreign

economic system. This account contains information about the

balance of trade and the net flows of money out of, and into, the

economy (transfers).

2.2. SOME PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF A

SAM

The possible dimensions of a SAM vary considerably and depend

on the information available and the objectives sought in

constructing it. Bearing in mind that input-output matrixes are

usually prepared for more than 40 branches of activity, the basic

matrix is at least 40 x 40. When the columns and rows for the other

transactions described above are added, a SAM usually has more

than 100 columns and 100 rows. There is no maximum number of

columns and rows, but if more or less complete information about

the transactions exists, a matrix can easily have over 500 columns

and 500 rows (Venegas, 1995). The SAM 97 has 115 of each. As a

matrix with hundreds of rows and columns is hard to display, for

practical reasons the versions used are summarized by analytical

module, and the disaggregations are made for each module

separately.

SAMs are usually prepared for entire countries, but there are

works that consider sectors or regions within a given country

(Vargas and Schreiner, 2001, Pleskovic, 1985, Adelman and others,

1988, Rojas, 1993), or international areas (Round, 1991). The

problems involved in reconciling national aggregates with regional

aggregates continue to be the chief constraint to the implementation

of SAMs at the regional level (Vargas, E., Schreiner D., Marcouiller

D., and Tembo G., 2000).

In the case of Costa Rica, the System of National Accounts 1993

(SNA 1993) (United Nations, 1993) is available, which explicitly

incorporates the progress made in research of this kind. Chapter

XX contains a special introduction to the SAM concept. It establishes

the international guidelines for studies of this kind and officially

recognizes their importance.

2.3. BACKGROUND AND FUTURE

Graham Pyatt, who under the aegis of the World Bank published

"Planning techniques for a better future" (Pyatt & Thorbecke,

1975) and then the first empirical work "Social accounting for

development planning: with special reference to Sri Lanka" (Pyatt

& Roe, 1978) is regarded as the precursor of studies using SAM.

However, Pyatt's ideas build on Richard Stone's works on national

accounts that were eventually incorporated into the guidelines to

the SNA Rev.3. (Venegas, 1995).

Research on SAMs continues to be promoted within the World Bank,

the Social Studies Institute of the Netherlands (ISS) and many

North American and European universities (Venegas, 1995). Useful

efforts have been made to develop regional SAMs. In some countries,

with the United States being a case in point, regional information

systems (like the IMPLAN) have made it possible to construct

accounting matrixes for regions. Recently, Kinkely 1998 began to

develop a multi-regional SAM, incorporating two or more regions

into a single SAM.

According to Venegas (1995), the first empirical works on SAMs

focused on underdeveloped and developing countries in Asia and

Africa. In recent years, these empirical studies were extended to

some developed countries. As in the case of CGE Models, the

phenomenon was due to the fact that SAMs were initially used to

study poverty, income distribution and development, but have

gradually begun to be used for studies on foreign trade and financial

flows, and other current economic issues that are of broad interest

in all countries. In Latin America, SAMs have been constructed for

Colombia (DANE, 1993), Chile (Venegas, 1995) and, Ecuador

(Janvry, Sadoulet and Fargeix, 1991), to mention but a few.

In Costa Rica, groundbreaking studies in the construction of

input-output matrixes include those by Leiva et al. (1972),

Bulmer-Thomas (1976) and the Economic Research Institute (1985). The

basic emphasis was methodological, i.e., to highlight the sources and

methods used to construct an input-output matrix (IOM). Adamson

and others (1999) developed a methodological proposal for

constructing the SAM for Costa Rica that included the modules for

the country's economic, social and environmental structure.

However, this proposal was not implemented.

This chapter contains a description of the procedures and sources

used to construct the social accounting matrix for Costa Rica for

1997, SAM 97. Divided into three sections, it is the core element

of this publication. The first section describes the choice of the base

year, the primary sources of information, and the construction of

a MACRO SAM, the starting point for the construction of the

SAM itself. The second section describes in detail the procedures

followed to disaggregate the MACRO SAM and construct the SAM

97, also analyzing the cross-tabulation of the accounts and their

macroeconomic aggregation. The third section presents the

procedure for disaggregating the staple grains sector, to explain how

the matrix can be modified for the purposes of sector-specific

analyses.

3.1. BASE YEAR, SOURCES AND THE MACRO SAM

3.1.1. Choice of the Base Year

Two main factors determined the base year chosen for the SAM of

Costa Rica. First, at the start of the project the Central Bank was

consulted about the supply and use tables (SUTs) available. It

turned out that the most recent table available at that time with

a "definitive closing" was the one for 1997. Second, from the outset

the aim of the project was to link physical accounts of natural

resources (forest resources) to the SAM, and the base year should

therefore help make this possible. The Tropical Agriculture

Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) helped IICA

ascertain what maps, statistics, and other information were

available that would make it possible to achieve the linkage for 1997.

In 1997 Costa Rica's economy performed very well: production

was up, thanks to the growth of domestic demand and the positive

expectations of the economic agents; employment and wages rose;

the rates of inflation, interest, and devaluation of the national

currency were low; the fiscal deficit narrowed; and the international

monetary reserves increased. Poverty indicators also fell and

foreign investment in the hi-tech sectors peaked, which in

subsequent years would become one of the dynamic elements of the

country's economic growth. Finally, the balance of payments current

account deficit increased, although this was covered by direct

foreign investment. Due to all the above, 1997 was a year of solid

economic growth, with a change in the production structure and

the use of factors, especially in the export sector of goods and

services.

3.1.2. Primary Data Source

The SAM 97 for Costa Rica is based on information culled from

different government studies published by the Central Bank of Costa

Rica (BCCR, 2001 and BCCR, 2000), an unpublished study (BCCR,

1999), and, the multipurpose survey of households (INEC,1997).

The methodology and figures of the official studies are consistent,

in accordance with the System of National Accounts document that

was used to prepare them. The 1993 System of National Accounts

is a document that was prepared under the auspices of the

Intersecretarial Working Group on National Accounts, EUROSTAT,

the IMF, OECD, the United Nations, and the World Bank. The idea

is that this manual be adopted universally, to ensure the

international comparability of data. To the extent permitted by the

statistical base available in the country, the recommendations

made in this manual were followed.

Although background information on national accounts was

considered in the unpublished study, the methodology and figures

are not altogether consistent with those traditionally adopted in

national accounts. The household surveys, on the other hand,

provide details that are very useful for preparing the structures for

distribution of remunerations, income, etc., although the levels that

appear are undervalued with regard to those obtained from the

National Accounts. The National Accounts figures are considered

more consistent but are usually presented in a very aggregated way

(at least in Costa Rica), hence the complementarity among the data

sources.

3.1.3. The MACRO SAM of Costa Rica

The work of constructing the SAM for Costa Rica began with a

MACRO SAM, which reflects, panoramically in a matrix, aggregated

data of the economy (See Table 1). This matrix is used to arrange

the modules of the disaggregated SAM, thus making it possible to

analyze the sources of information.

In some cases, the data contained in the MACRO SAM consist of

only summarized figures with little economic significance. In other

cases, they show the set of sub-matrixes or modules that will

ultimately contain significant data, such as net production at

market prices; gross fixed capital formation; imports and exports;

other current payments to the rest of the world; and, other current

income from the rest of the world and foreign savings.

The MACRO SAM presents important transactions of the SNA,

aggregated for the economy as a whole. Five types of (consolidated)

accounts are included: production, supply and use of goods and

services; income distribution; use of income; capital transactions;

and, transactions with the rest of the world. The MACRO SAM is

thus a consolidated version of the SAM 97 of Costa Rica (the

complete SAM is included as Annex D), in which each entry in the

MACRO SAM can be regarded as the grand total of a sub-matrix.

Presenting the data in a matrix makes it possible to represent each

transaction by means of a single annotation and infer the nature

of the transaction from its position. Each account is represented

by the module annotation "(row, column)," and the convention

followed is that inflows (income) appear in the rows and outflows

A

cc

o

un

t

C

ommod

it

ies

P

rod

u

ct

ion

In

co

me Di

st

ri

b

u

ti

on

In

co

me Us

e

C

a

p

it

a

l

R

e

st

of

t

h

e W

o

rl

d

T

ot

a

l

Incomes

®

A

B

C

D

E

F

C

o

mmod

it

ies

A

Interm

ed

ia

te

co

nsump

tio

n

Fi

na

l co

nsump

tio

n

G

ro

ss

ca

p

ita

l

form

at

io

n

Expo

rt

s

2,

414,

406.

6

2

,558,

971.

8

539,

639.

3

1

,215,

914.

0

6

,728,

931.

7

P

rod

u

ct

ion

B

P

ro

du

ct

io

n

an

d t

axe

s o

n

th

e n

et p

ro

d

u

cts

o

f

su

b

sid

ies

5,

398,

426.

4

5,

398,

426.

4

Income Dis

tr

ib

u

tio

n

CN

et

d

o

m

es

tic

pro

d

u

ct

Rem

u

n

er

at

ion

of

em

p

loy

ees

, ren

t from

p

ro

p

erty

, c

u

rren

t ta

xe

s

an

d cu

rr

en

t t

ran

sf

er

s

fr

om

t

h

e Res

t of t

h

e

Wo

rld

2,

815,

293.

3

87,

599.

7

2

,902,

893.

0

Income Us

e

D

D

is

p

o

sa

b

le

ne

t na

tio

n

al

in

co

m

e

2,

78

6,

573.

0

2

,786,

573.

0

Ca

pi

ta

l

E

C

on

su

m

p

tion

of

fixe

d capi

ta

l

Ne

t savi

ngs

168,

726.

5

227,

601.

5

396,

328.

0

Res

t o

f t

h

e wo

rl

d

F

Im

p

or

ts

Rem

u

n

er

at

ion

of

em

p

loy

ees

, ren

t f

rom

pr

o

p

er

ty

, an

d cu

rr

en

t

tra

n

sf

ers

to

th

e re

st

o

f th

e

Wo

rld

Ne

t bo

rr

o

w

in

g

1,

330,

505.

3

1

1

6

,319.

8

(143,

311.

3)

1,

303,

513.

7

Total

6,

728931.

7

5

,398,

426.

4

2

,9

0

2

,893.

0

2

,786,

573.

0

396,

328.

0

1

,303,

513.

7

|

Expenditures ®

T

able 1

Costa Rica: Macro SAM for the Costa Rican Economy (Millions of colones)

Base Y

ear 1997

Source:

IIC

A, with data from the Central Bank of Costa Rica (B

(expenditures) in the columns. For example, (C,B) is the net

domestic product (NDP) (¢2,815,293 million), which is paid by

the producers in the economy, B, and received in the income

distribution account, C.

3.1.4. Description of Modules

Module (B,A) records production and the net taxes on products

3

of subsidies.

4

_{Broadly speaking, production is an activity in which}

a firm uses inputs to obtain outputs (result of production). The

economic analysis of production deals mainly with activities that

result in outputs that can be provided or supplied to other

institutional units. The datum (¢5,398,426 million) reflects

production at market prices and is obtained from "Table 13:

Integrated Economic Accounts: Production Accounts" (BCCR,

2001), as total production at basic prices (¢5,133,562 million), plus

the taxes on products (¢310,404 million) minus the subsidies for

products (¢45,540 million).

Module (F,A) reflects importation of goods and services. It consists

of purchases, barter trade, or gifts or donations of goods and

services that residents receive from non-residents. The total

(¢1,330,505 million) is obtained from "Table 19: Account of Current

Transactions with the Rest of the World" (BCCR, 2001).

The combined total of production and taxes on the net products of

subsidies, module (B,A), and the importation of goods and services,

module (F,A), gives us the supply or quantity of products available

in the economy in 1997 (¢6,728,931 million), which is the same as

the value of "Table 12: Integrated Economic Accounts: Accounts of

Goods and Services."

3. Taxes on products are taxes on the goods and services required as a result of the

production, sale, transfer, leasing, or supplying of these goods or services, or as a result

of their use for personal consumption or for capital formation.

4. A subsidy for a product is that to be paid for each unit of a good or service. The subsidy

can be a specific amount of money by unit of quantity of a good or service, or can be

calculated ad valorem as a specific percentage of the price per unit; it can also be

calculated as the difference between a previously specified price and the market price

actually paid by a buyer.

Intermediate consumption that consists of the value of the goods

and services consumed as inputs by a production process is recorded

in module (A,B). Fixed assets whose consumption is recorded as

consumption of fixed capital are excluded. It includes the goods and

services that are processed or consumed in the production process.

Table 1 (¢2,414,406 million) is obtained from "Table 10: Production

and Gross Value Added by Industry" (BCCR, 2001).

The actual final consumption of households, module (A,D), consists

of the consumption goods or services acquired by individual

households, either by purchasing them or in the form of social

transfers in kind received from government units or non-profit

institutions that serve the households (NPISH). The figure for

actual final consumption of the households (¢2,558,971 million) is

obtained from "Table 12: Integrated Economic Accounts: Accounts

of Goods and Services," by adding together the following three

components:

a. The amount spent by households on consumption goods or

services, including expenditure on non-market goods or services

sold at prices that are not economically significant;

b. The amount spent by government units on goods or services for

individual consumption provided to households in the form of

social transfers in kind; and,

c. The amount spent by the NPISH in goods or services for

individual consumption provided to households in the form of

social transfers in kind.

Module (A,E), gross capital formation, measures the total value of

fixed assets acquired by producers, minus those disposed of, during

the accounting period, plus certain additions to the value of

non-produced assets made by the productive activity of the institutional

units, plus the value of inflows of stock minus the value of outflows,

and the value of any ordinary loss of goods kept in stock. Fixed assets

are tangible and/or intangible assets obtained as a result of

production processes and, in turn, are used repeatedly, or

continually, in other production processes for more than a year. The

amount (¢539,639 million) is obtained from "Table 12: Integrated

Economic Accounts: Accounts of Goods and Services."

Module (A,F) is used for exports of goods and services. These

consist of sales, barter trade, or gifts or donations of goods and

services by residents to non-residents. The amount (¢1,215,914

million) is included in "Table 12: Integrated Economic Accounts:

Accounts of Goods and Services."

The combined total of intermediate consumption, actual final

consumption of households, gross capital formation and exports of

goods and services reflects total use in the economy, that is, absorption.

In the MACRO SAM, this result would be obtained by adding together

modules (A,B), (A,D), (A,E) and (A,F). Of course, total supply and

total use at buyer's prices are the sbame (¢6,728,931 million).

Module (C,B), Net Domestic Product (NDP), is obtained by

subtracting intermediate consumption (A,B) and fixed capital

consumption (E,B) from Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

5

_To

obtain the GDP, care must be taken to avoid duplication stemming

from purchase and sale operations among the different producers,

since this variable tries to measure the value that each producer

adds to the final good or service. The only things considered are the

increases in value generated in each stage of production of the final

good. The figure for NDP (¢2,815,293 million) can be obtained from

many of the tables contained in the National Accounts publication,

but appears explicitly in "Table 13: Integrated Economic Accounts:

Production Accounts."

Fixed capital consumption, module (E,B), also appears in Table 13.

The figure (¢168,726 million) can be defined, in general terms, as

the decline experienced, during the accounting period, in the

standard value of the stock of fixed assets that a producer owns and

uses, as a consequence of physical deterioration, normal

obsolescence or normal accidental damages.

The combined total of the modules of intermediate consumption,

(A,B), net domestic product, (C,B), and fixed capital consumption,

(E,B), is exactly the same as the figure for total production that

appears in module (B,A) that we discussed earlier.

5. The total value of GDP production is sum of the monetary value of the goods and

services produced by a country in a given time period (quarter, year).

Module (C,F) reflects the remuneration of employees, rent from

property, current taxes and current transfers from the Rest of the

World; while module (F,C) reflects the remuneration of employees,

rent from property, and current transfers to the Rest of the World.

It is basically used to record transactions between residents

6

_and

non-residents of the country. In the system, the total economy is

made up of all the institutional units that are resident in the

economic territory of a country. The figures are obtained from

"Table 2: Gross Domestic Product and Disposable Net National

Income" (BCCR, 2001).

Disposable Net National Income, module (D,C), is the combined

total of Net Domestic Product (C,B), the remuneration of employees,

rent from property, current taxes and current transfers from the

Rest of the World (C,F), minus the remuneration of employees, rent

from property, and current transfers to the Rest of the World

(F,C). It is interpreted as follows: primary income generated by

production and transfers to the resident production units are

usually distributed among other resident institutional units. Part

of them may go to non-resident units, however. Symmetrically, part

of the primary income and transfers generated in the Rest of the

World can go to resident units. This leads to the definition and

measurement of disposable gross national income (DGNI) at

market prices. DGNI is the same as GDP minus the primary

income payable to non-resident units, plus primary income

receivable from resident units, minus transfers made to

non-resident units, plus transfers received from non-non-resident units.

Subtracting fixed capital consumption from DGNI gives net national

income (NNI) at market prices. Disposable net national income

measures the nation's disposable income for final consumption

and net savings.

Consequently, net savings, module (E,D), comprise the balance of

the use of income account and represent part of the disposable

income not spent on goods and services for final consumption.

6. The concept of residence is not based on nationality or legal criteria; an institutional unit

is said to be resident in a country when it has a center of economic interest in the economic

territory of the country concerned, that is, when it carries out business activities in it

over a lengthy period.

The figure is obtained by subtracting Final Consumption

Expenditure from Disposable Net National Income; that is, module

(D,C) minus module (A,D).

The values of both INN (¢2,786,573 million) and net savings (¢227,601

million) are consistent with the figures published in "Table 2: Gross

Domestic Product and Net Disposable National Income."

Finally, module (F,E), reflects the changes in (the country's) net

worth due to the current balance with the rest of the world and

capital transfers. It represents the domestic economy's (positive or

negative) disposable resources for accumulating assets from the rest

of the world. The result is a balance known as net lending to (if there

is a surplus), or net borrowing (if there is a deficit) from, the rest

of the world. The result (¢-143,311 million) is the same as net

savings, module (E,D), minus the gross capital formation, module

(A,E), plus fixed capital consumption, module (E,B). The same

result appears in "Table 2: Gross Domestic Product and Disposable

Net National Income."

3.2. PROCEDURE FOR CROSS-TABULATING

ACCOUNTS IN THE SAM 97

After the authors had constructed the MACRO SAM of Costa Rica

for the base year of 1997, they created the expanded version of the

SAM by disaggregating each module of the MACRO SAM,

maintaining the macroeconomic consistency and cross-tabulating

every account. This process is explained below. The end result, the

SAM 97 of Costa Rica, is presented in Annex D.

3.2.1. The Agents in the SAM 97 of Costa Rica

Production sectors

In this study's fully disaggregated SAM, goods and activities are

divided up into 41 major industries. The Input-Output Matrix for

1997 includes the same sectors as the 1991 matrix estimated by

David Roland-Holst in 1993. The authors decided on this due to the

lack of sufficient information to break the data down into even more

detail. The matrix focuses on the major groups of traditional export

sectors that have played a key role in Costa Rica's economic growth.

These sectors are integrated vertically between primary production

and manufacturing, in line with their institutional organization,

e.g., coffee growing and processing; sugarcane growing and refining;

livestock and meat and milk production; forestry and fisheries

with fish, shellfish, and other sea products. Finally, importance was

attached to sectors that, on account of their prices and volume,

continue to be key variables in the cost structure of Costa Rica's

economy. The other sectors are roughly the same as the single-digit

structure of the International Standard Industrial Classification

(ISIC) and the disaggregation of large sectors in the publications

of national accounts.

Institutional sectors

The following institutional sectors are defined in this SAM:

1. Non-financial Private Sector

1.1. Households

1.1.1.Employees

1.1.2.Independents

1.2. Firms

2. Public Sector

2.1. Gobernment

The non-financial private sector includes all the private agents that

are users or producers of non-financial services resident in the

country. Thanks to the Household Survey conducted by the National

Institute for Statistics and Censuses (INEC), it was possible to

extract income by location (urban or rural) and type of employment.

The "employees" category includes people who work in the public

and private sectors and those who work at home for another

member of the household. The "independent" category covers

self-employed people, both those who do not employ anyone else

permanently, and those who do. The rest of the non-financial

private sector comprises people who do not fit into the other

categories, i.e., all the private agents that produce non-financial

goods and services, whether they are companies or not.

The Public Sector category is limited mainly to public

admin-istration services.

3.2.2. Equivalence between the Input-Output Table

and the Supply and Use Table

The authors constructed a table of equivalences between the

products of the 1997 supply and use table, and the products of the

input-output matrix (IOM) for 1991, which was used as the basis

for aggregating data.

Supply and use tables are used to record, in the form of matrixes,

the way in which domestic industries and imports provide goods

and services, and how the latter are distributed between

intermediate or final uses, including exports. Creating these tables

entails preparing a set of integrated accounts of production and

income generation by industries, i.e., by groups of establishments

different from the institutional units. They also provide an

accounting framework that permits systematic use of the method

of the flow of merchandises for preparing national accounts. This

method requires that the total supply and use for individual types

of goods and services be the same. These tables also provide basic

information for preparing detailed input-output tables that are very

often used for economic analysis and projections.

Table 2 shows this equivalence for agricultural products. For practical

reasons, the table of equivalences for "non-agricultural" sectors is

presented in Annex B, as quite a long list of products is involved.

3.2.3. Production Account

The production account draws on the basic information contained in

the 1997 Supply and Use Table for the Costa Rican economy, produced

by the Central Bank of Costa Rica. In addition to the accounts of flows

and balances already described, module (B,A), the central framework

of the system, contains detailed supply and use tables.

3.2.4. Final Utilization of Income Account

The final utilization of income is taken from the same supply and

use table and is distributed among the following modules of the

MACRO SAM:

• (A,D), which shows the final consumption of the institutional

sectors and the Government, valued at user prices as a whole

column;

• (A,E), at the point where the goods row intersects with the

capital accumulation column, which records the change in

supplies plus gross fixed capital formation.

SAM Sector

SUT Sector

1 Bananas

01.31.1 Bananas

01.31.1

Gross michel bananas

2 Coffee beans

01.61.1 Coffee beans

3 Sugar cane

01.82.0 Sugar cane

4 Cocoa beans,

06.61.4 Cocoa beans,

unroasted and roasted

01.31.1

unroasted and roasted

5 Staple grains

01.12.0 Paddy rice

01.22.1 Beans

01.13.0 Unprocessed

6 Unprocessed tobacco

01.70.0 Tobacco unprocessed

7 Livestock

02.11.1 Cattle, live

02.91.0 Milk

02.12.1 Pigs, live

8 Forestry and fisheries

03.11.0 Timber

01.92.0 Cultivated active

04.12.0 Fish, fresh or frozen

01.92.0

production

9 Other agricultural

02.92.0 Fresh eggs

01.23.1 Cabbage

9.

products

02.12.2 Poultry, live

01.23.2 Tomatoes

01.91.0 Other

01.23.3 Chayote

01.32.0 Oranges

01.23.4 Plantains

01.24.3 Carrots

01.52.0 Flowers

01.24.1 Cassava

01.51.0 Marginata

01.24.2 Onions and chives

01.49.0 African palm

01.23.5 Heart of palm

01.34.0 Melons

01.21.0 Potatoes

01.31.2 Pineapples

Source: Based on data from Central Bank of Costa Rica

TABLE 2

Equivalence between the products of the Input-Output

Table and the products of the Supply and Use Table (SUT)

3.2.5. Intermediate Consumption Account

This intermediate consumption account is related to module (A,B)

of the MACRO SAM. The ideal way of constructing the account

would be to study the economic structure of each production sector.

But, as insufficient time and resources were available to conduct

a survey that would yield more detailed, reliable information, the

authors opted for an updated IOM for 1991 for Costa Rica (Borrajo,

1994). The implicit assumption is that the proportion of resources

for intermediate uses in each sector has not changed significantly

since 1991. Using the 1991 IOM as the basis, the RAS mathematical

algorithm was used as an alternative method of distributing the data

contained in the table of intersectoral transactions. Annex A

provides a description of this method. The process requires a basic

set of "control totals," which are used to construct the table. Table

3 presents the control totals used in the case of Costa Rica.

3.2.6. Value Added Account

To show the complete breakdown of the elements of the

input-output matrix in the SAM, value added is presented at basic prices

by sector in remunerations, taxes, and subsidies on production and

the earned surplus. The basic information is taken from the same

Supply and Use Table (COU), for 1997.

In the case of remunerations, the authors decided to apply a

greater disaggregation, which is very useful in analyses of income

distribution. The basic information for performing the distribution

was obtained from the Multipurpose Household Survey conducted

in 1997 by the National Institute for Statistics and Censuses

(INEC). This survey contains data on the number of people

employed and the average income in colones in 194 branches of

activity classified according to the second review of the ISIC. The

data is separated according to place of residence (rural or urban).

For each branch of activity, the data is broken down according to

type of employment, as follows:

- Independent workers:

- self-employed workers

Control Totals

Sector MCS

Row

Column

0

(1) Bananas

6,694.2

66,596.0

0

(2) Coffee beans

82,376.1

12.247.0

0

(3) Sugar cane

19,222.6

7,597.0

0

(4) Cocoa beans, unroasted and roasted

1.754.7

17.3

0

(5) Staple grains

35,417.9

11.276.5

0

(6) Unprocessed tobacco

23.4

435,8

0

(7) Livestock

110,189.7

56,703.7

0

(8) Forestry and fisheries

34,375,1

7,777.4

0

(9) Other agricultural products

41.655,2

71.844.7

(10) Meat and dairy products

48,467.3

140,506.1

(11) Fish, shellfish and other sea products

20,360.0

32.803.2

(12) Vegetable and animal oils and fats

14,306.9

25,032.1

(13) Green coffee

10,801.7

95,553.4

(14) Milling, excluding coffee processing

37,934.3

52.290.8

(15) Bakery products

2.733,0

14,210.2

(16) Sugar

14,166.9

25,491.3

(17) Other manufactured products

59,015,8

79,909.7

(18) Beverages

148,554.0

31.416.6

(19) Tobacco (cigarettes)

3,890.7

12.589.4

(20) Textiles and garments

46,448.9

137,919.7

(21) Tanning and currying activities

9,186.2

14,205,3

(22) Timber and furniture

20,711.7

14,633.4

(23) Paper and printing

111.482.5

64,136.0

(24) Chemicals

315,571.1

92.414.9

(25) Oil refining (gasoline, diesel, etc,)

118,045,0

24,950.4

(26) Tires 20,992.1

12.925,8

(27) Rubber and plastic products

77,332.5

64,117.3

(28) Glass and ceramic products

12.332.1

10,582.7

(29) Clay products for construction

108,900.5

30,450.9

(30) Base metals

101.379.3

54,236.6

(31) Electrical goods

71.250.1

93,439.8

(32) Transportation equipment

21.360.2

19,825,4

(33) Other manufactures

11.144.1

79,487.1

(34) Construction

6,783.0

114,356.0

(35) Financial services and insurance

260,282.1

71.837.0

(36) Commerce, restaurants and hotels

25,724.1

317,440.7

(37) Transportation, storage and communications

193,235,2

189,299.2

(38) Social, community and personal services

83,566.5

149,077.6

(39) Electricity

56,676.1

26,898.6

(40) Real estate services

50,063.8

35,222.3

(41) Public administration services

0.0

52.651.6

TOTAL

2,414,406.6

2,414,406.6

TABLE 3

Control totals for updating the Input-Output matrix

(aggregation of sectors of the Supply and Use Table)

- workers who have an employer

- Salaried workers:

- State

- private enterprise

- domestic service

This data, grouped into 194 branches of activity, is regrouped

according to the aggregation into 41 sectors used in the Social

Accounting Matrix. Each branch was manually assigned one of the

41 codes used for the sectors of the matrix, maintaining a sensible

consistency between the two classifications.

The total remuneration for each activity and category of

employment was calculated by multiplying the average income of

each activity by the total number of people employed in it. This

calculation was performed maintaining the rural and urban groups.

Based on this data for the entire country, the relative weight of the

income of each sector was calculated under the total income

received in each category of employment. The results are shown in

Table 4.

In Figure 1, the sectoral distribution of income for all employed

people in the household survey is compared with the distribution

Figure 1

Structure for Total Income by Sector of the SAM_97

Household Survey vs. National Accounts

1997

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

1

4

7

10

13

16

19

22

25

28

31

34

37

40

SAM Sector

Relative weight

National Accounts

Household Survey

EMPL

OYEES

INDEPENDENT WORKERS

WAGE-EARNERS

SELF

PUBLIC

DOMESTIC

SAM SECTOR

TOT

AL

TOT

AL

EMPL

OYED

EMPL

OYER

TOT

AL

SECTOR

FIRMS

HELP

0

1 Bananas

2.7%

0.1%

0.1%

0.1%

3.6%

0.0%

5.6%

0.0%

0

2 Coffee

2.3%

4.8%

4.2%

5.7%

1.4%

0.0%

2.2%

0.0%

0

3 Sugar cane

0.6%

1.1%

1.4%

0.8%

0.4%

0.0%

0.7%

0.0%

0

4 Cocoa

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0

5 Staple Grains

0.9%

2.3%

2.6%

1.7%

0.5%

0.0%

0.7%

0.0%

0

6 T

obacco

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0

7 Livestock

1.7%

3.0%

2.7%

3.5%

1.3%

0.0%

1.9%

0.0%

0

8 F

orestr

y,

fisheries

0.9%

1.0%

1.2%

0.8%

0.9%

0.0%

1.4%

0.0%

0

9 Other agricultural products

5.0%

7.1%

7.9%

5.7%

4.3%

0.0%

6.6%

0.0%

10 Meat and dair

y products

0.8%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

1.1%

0.0%

1.8%

0.0%

11 Fish canning

0.2%

0.0%

0.1%

0.0%

0.2%

0.0%

0.3%

0.0%

12 Edible oils

0.2%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.2%

0.0%

0.3%

0.0%

13 Coffee processing

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

14 Milling of grains

0.4%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.6%

0.0%

0.9%

0.0%

15 Baker

y products

1.3%

2.0%

1.8%

2.2%

1.1%

0.0%

1.7%

0.0%

16 Sugar

0.2%

0.3%

0.0%

0.8%

0.2%

0.0%

0.2%

0.0%

17 Other manufactured products

0.4%

0.1%

0.1%

0.1%

0.5%

0.0%

0.7%

0.0%

18 Beverages

0.4%

0.0%

0.0%

0.1%

0.6%

0.0%

0.9%

0.0%

19 T

obacco products

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

20 T

extiles and gar

ments

2.7%

2.4%

3.0%

1.3%

2.9%

0.0%

4.5%

0.0%

21 Leather goods and footwear

0.6%

0.5%

0.4%

0.6%

0.6%

0.0%

0.9%

0.0%

22 Timber and fur

niture

1.5%

1.9%

1.8%

2.0%

1.3%

0.0%

2.1%

0.0%

23 P

aper and printing

1.1%

0.4%

0.5%

0.1%

1.3%

0.0%

2.0%

0.0%

24 Chemicals

0.7%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.9%

0.3%

1.3%

0.0%

25 Oil refineries

0.4%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.5%

1.3%

0.1%

0.0%

T

ABLE 4

Structure for Distributing T

otal Income

EMPL

OYEES

INDEPENDENT WORKERS

WAGE-EARNERS

SELF

PUBLIC

DOMESTIC

SAM SECTOR

TOT

AL

TOT

AL

EMPL

OYED

EMPL

OYER

TOT

AL

SECTOR

FIRMS

HELP

26 Tires

0.2%

0.1%

0.2%

0.0%

0.3%

0.0%

0.4%

0.0%

27 R

ubber and plastics

0.5%

0.3%

0.1%

0.7%

0.6%

0.0%

0.9%

0.0%

28 Glass and ceramics

0.1%

0.0%

0.0%

0.1%

0.1%

0.0%

0.2%

0.0%

29 Constr

uction materials

0.6%

0.1%

0.0%

0.4%

0.7%

0.0%

1.1%

0.0%

30 Base metals

0.2%

0.1%

0.1%

0.0%

0.3%

0.0%

0.4%

0.0%

31 Electrical goods

1.3%

0.5%

0.7%

0.4%

1.5%

0.0%

2.4%

0.0%

32 T

ranspor

tation equipment

0.2%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.3%

0.0%

0.5%

0.0%

33 Other manufactures

2.3%

3.2%

2.5%

4.4%

1.9%

0.0%

3.0%

0.0%

34 Constr

uction

7.4%

12.3%

12.0%

12.9%

5.7%

2.5%

7.6%

0.0%

35 Financial ser

vices and insurance

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

36 Commerce, restaurants and hotels

15.5%

22.8%

21.0%

25.9%

12.9%

0.0%

20.1%

0.0%

37 T

ranspor

tation

5.9%

10.1%

11.9%

7.1%

4.5%

0.7%

6.6%

0.0%

38 Ser

vices

22.9%

22.7%

22.7%

22.7%

23.0%

29.7%

16.8%

100.0%

39 Electricity

1.2%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

1.7%

4.4%

0.3%

0.0%

40 R

eal estate

0.1%

0.1%

0.1%

0.2%

0.1%

0.0%

0.2%

0.0%

41 Public administration ser

vices

16.4%

0.5%

0.8%

0.0%

22.0%

61.1%

2.5%

0.0%

99 Non-categorized

0.4%

0.2%

0.3%

0.0%

0.4%

0.1%

0.6%

0.0%

TOT

AL

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

Source:

IIC

A, with data from the Central Bank of Costa Rica (B

CCR) and the National Institute for Statistics and Censuses (INEC).

T

ABLE 4 (Continued)

Structure for Distributing T

otal Income

recorded in the National Accounts. There are slight differences

between the two sources of data, but the weight that is respected

is the one obtained from the national accounts. We used the detailed

information contained in the household survey to disaggregate

the remunerations into urban, rural, employed, independent,

self-employed and employer, etc., which is not in the national accounts.

3.2.7 Rest of the World Account

This module is based on the harmonized figures for the balance of

payments and foreign transactions account of Costa Rica's national

accounts. The publication containing the accounts for 1991-2000

(BCCR, 2001) includes the aggregated version of the foreign

transactions account. The data presented in the SAM is based on

a more disaggregated version. The trade balance (goods and

services) is completely consistent with the disaggregation by goods

of the IPM and, in the rest of the current account (income and

transfers), consistent with the income and expenditure account of

the national accounts. There is no full reconciliation between the

study of income and expenditures, and sources and uses of funds,

which is reflected in the difference in the net lending figure

calculated for the capital accumulation and financial account. This

situation is replicated in the foreign account, with the difference

in the nation's current account surplus and the balance of the

capital account.

The authors also decided to place the Rest of the World in a single

column that includes both current and capital transactions. In

some SAM studies, they are divided into both types of transactions,

duplicating the Rest of the World column and presenting them

separately in the respective modules. In our case, Rest of the

World could only appear as part of the current account, and, due

to lack of information, the accumulation modules could not be

disaggregated.

Certain adjustments had to be made to the figures published in the

national accounts for both exports and imports of goods, to ensure

that the previously defined SAM product classification was

consistent with the foreign transactions. In the case of exports, the

BCCR's figures present, in an aggregated way, the statistics for the

firms that belong to the Duty Deferral/Export Processing system.

The statistics available from the BCCR for imports highlighted only

some products, while most imports are final consumption goods,

intermediate consumption goods and capital goods.

To distribute the data on the Duty-free Zone, the Foreign Trade

Development Office was asked to disaggregate the exports of the firms

that benefited from the system during 1997. The authors were given

a file containing a breakdown of exports under the headings of the

Central American Tariff System (SAC), in dollars. As the objective was

to obtain a relative structure, the data was used directly in that

currency. As already explained, IICA manually assigned each SAC

export item in the data file one of the 41 codes corresponding to the

sectors of the matrix, so as to maintain a logical and functional

consistency between the two classifications. For this new distribution,

the percentage weight of exports was calculated for each of the 41

export sectors. The result can be seen in Table 5.

The primary information on imports was obtained from the

Customs Bureau. (The format for the data files for 1998 and 1999

is identical). Each file consisted of a list of imports in dollars for

the year, grouped under the SAC headings (97 version).

In addition to the SAC classification, each import item was placed

under one of the 165 product headings used in the Central Bank

of Costa Rica's Supply and Use Table (SUT). The authors then

constructed a conversion table and the SUT product headings

were reassigned to the 41 sectors listed in the SAM. A computer

program was used to assign the corresponding sector in the matrix

to each import item.

Secondly, each import (previously coded according to its intended

use) was placed into one of three major categories, using FOB

imports to achieve a better comparison with the export data. Thus,

instead of being listed under one of 25 intended uses, import goods

were placed under the heading for capital goods (KG), intermediate

consumption goods (IC), or final consumption goods (FC), as shown

in Table 6.